Intel Core i7 4820K and 4960X Ivy Bridge-E processor review

In todays reviews we test the new four-core Core i7 4820K and six-core Core i7 4960X Ivy Bridge-E (IBE) processor. The 4820K is the only quad-core IBE processor that Intel will release. But it is unlocked and as such direct competition for the Core i7 4770K. That alone is interesting as X79 as a platform offers more PCIe lanes. But how well will this processor fare against Intel's own pride and joy the 4770K ? let's go check it out.

Intel Core i7-4770K clocked to 7068.52MHz - 08/17/2013 09:33 AM
In a press-release MSI informs us that a new overclocking record has been set with its Z87 XPOWER motherboard. The Overclocking Knights managed to overclock Intel's Core i7-4770K to a wwhopping 7068...

Intel Core i7 4771 benchmarks surface, as fast as 4770 - 07/31/2013 02:11 PM
Intel is will launch its Core i7 4771 in the fall to take its premium line to 2014 when it plans to launch a refresh of Haswell. VR-Zone got its hands on a copy of the chip early to run some benchmark...

Intel Core i7 4770K and Z87 chipset review - 06/01/2013 03:54 PM
Intel today finally releases their 4th generation Core processors. Yes we review the Core i7 4770K and Z87 chipset. Not much has been a secret when it comes to this launch, but the embargo is lifted a...

Intel confirms Haswell chipset USB bug - 04/06/2013 07:56 AM
In a Product Change Notification bulletin from Intel confirmed that the current Lynx Point 8-series and C220 chipsets for Haswell have a bug that causes USB 3.0 devices to disappear after entering S3 ...

#4648982 Posted on: 09/03/2013 07:09 PM
That is some crazy fast memory read/write speeds that is more then double the read/write speeds I get on my triple channel 1600mhz on my i7 920 @ stock.

These new cpu are seriously tempting me to make new build.... But I Still not about to do that, only game I have that I play that plays bad on my build is swtor, damn never everything else I play is 60 fps solid.

Koniakki
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#4648985 Posted on: 09/03/2013 07:19 PM
That is some crazy fast memory read/write speeds that is more then double the read/write speeds I get on my triple channel 1600mhz on my i7 920 @ stock.

These new cpu are seriously tempting me to make new build.... But I Still not about to do that, only game I have that I play that plays bad on my build is swtor, damn never everything else I play is 60 fps solid.

Yeah, those read/copy memory numbers are off the chart.

Here's a comparison to a 3770k@4.9Ghz and memory 2400mhz@11-12-11-24-CR1 timings.

Here's a comparison to a 3770k@4.9Ghz and memory 2400mhz@11-12-11-24-CR1 timings.

yah i need to stop reading all that is makes me want to upgrade when I have no reason. those numbers are just crazy. And the day developers actual give correct multi core support for everything I expect the even crazier numbers

Haswell might of not been the huge jump the "minority" the enthusiasts crowded expects from next gen but the power usage is amazing. great for laptops people user and the people that think gaming is good idea on laptops seeing heat just cant dissipate fast enough them, but useless for desktop seeing most dont care about power consuption on desktops ,but frankly intel has nothing to lose but lowering power consumption on the cpu, they are already running circles around amd in raw power

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#4648995 Posted on: 09/03/2013 07:49 PM
yah i need to stop reading all that is makes me want to upgrade when I have no reason. those numbers are just crazy. And the day developers actual give correct multi core support for everything I expect the even crazier numbers

Haswell might of not been the huge jump the "minority" the enthusiasts crowded expects from next gen but the power usage is amazing. great for laptops people user and the people that think gaming is good idea on laptops seeing heat just cant dissipate fast enough them, but useless for desktop seeing most dont care about power consuption on desktops ,but frankly intel has nothing to lose but lowering power consumption on the cpu, they are already running circles around amd in raw power

Although I'm not and I shouldn't complain since I'm on a 4.6 3770K, I know what you are saying since I went straight from a C2D E4500 to a 2600 and shortly after that to my 3770k. That was an improvement.

But if I had gotten a 2600K I wouldn't had upgraded to a 3770k/4770k. Neither the 2011 CPU's. I just got the 3770k because I didn't really "want" the non k 2600 I had.
And tbh I loved that CPU because I showed me the biggest different when I went straight to that from the C2D.

I'm of those users that upgrade if possible every 2-3 years. But I will make an exception and my next upgrade will be a 8c/16t CPU(best bang cpu like 3930k/4930k) hopefully next year with H-E/X99.

Well, all we can do is wait..

Blackops_2
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#4649012 Posted on: 09/03/2013 08:21 PM
Although I'm not and I shouldn't complain since I'm on a 4.6 3770K, I know what you are saying since I went straight from a C2D E4500 to a 2600 and shortly after that to my 3770k. That was an improvement.

But if I had gotten a 2600K I wouldn't had upgraded to a 3770k/4770k. Neither the 2011 CPU's. I just got the 3770k because I didn't really "want" the non k 2600 I had.
And tbh I loved that CPU because I showed me the biggest different when I went straight to that from the C2D.

I'm of those users that upgrade if possible every 2-3 years. But I will make an exception and my next upgrade will be a 8c/16t CPU(best bang cpu like 3930k/4930k) hopefully next year with H-E/X99.

Well, all we can do is wait..

Having a hard time waiting though i really want to scrap my z77 build and go X79 because in the long run those 2 extra cores will be more than beneficial, as will the bandwidth capabilities.

holystarlight
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#4649019 Posted on: 09/03/2013 08:36 PM
Great review. im surpised I thought it would do a lot better than my current 3930k was really looking forward to an upgrade but I might give it a miss after reading the reviews.

And my 3930k clocked at 4.6ghz 2133mhz 9-12-12-28-c1

there not much in it... I was hoping this new chip would be a great overclocker. but I guess only time will tell!

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#4649075 Posted on: 09/03/2013 10:32 PM
cant say I am all that impressed tbh, the memory bandwidth is out of site though

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#4649079 Posted on: 09/03/2013 10:36 PM
Meh. If I can get 4.6GHz out of my 4930K, I'll be happy. I wasn't expecting overclocking miracles with IB-E anyways. Time to play the silicone lottery.

Koniakki
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#4649191 Posted on: 09/04/2013 01:34 AM
You 3930k owners you....

Solfaur
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#4649527 Posted on: 09/04/2013 04:43 PM
It's a bit disappointing but not unexpected, it was the same thing with 2600k - 3770k. I'm really looking forward towards haswell-e and beyond, it's about time that the industry pushes for raw performance again,

EDIT:
I bet I know what is going on. After thinking about it, I remember that AIDA/Everest used to give really low RAM scores when compared to Sandra. I am guessing that the older tests including the i7-3820 were run on an older version.

If that is the case, then those older scores either need to be revisited or all together removed from the charts since they are no longer accurate.

In either case, IB-E is not really faster in RAM throughput than SB-E.

Corrupt^
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#4650522 Posted on: 09/06/2013 06:47 AM

I don't know why is that bothering you? Do you love spending 500$ on CPU/MB/RAM every year? I don't think so...

No but it's stagnating to the point that by the time this 2600K breaks we still haven't reached a decent increment.

When I upgrade I like it to be worthwhile.

Blackops_2
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#4650524 Posted on: 09/06/2013 06:54 AM
No but it's stagnating to the point that by the time this 2600K breaks we still haven't reached a decent increment.

When I upgrade I like it to be worthwhile.

This man has a good point

Though coming from Piledriver and Deneb it will be worthwhile which ever rout i take.

Pill Monster
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#4650629 Posted on: 09/06/2013 12:38 PM
This is still an IV-B part, not Haswell.

Even saying that, you are talking about 100% more performance and only 9% more power usage than an AMD FX-8350; just to put stuff into perspective.

First off; isn't it strange how we're in a thread discussing Hilbert's review on Guru3D yet instead u post bench results from AnandTech....really funny that . But not really that funny.

Maybe Anand can shed some light on this?

Here's what he has to say regarding your carefully selected benchmark;

Just as there are applications that favor the Phenom II's IMC, there are those scenarios that are highly optimized for Intel's architectures. Running the Excel Monte Carlo simulation all of the Core 2 Quads and even the Core 2 Duo E8600 are faster than AMD's Phenom II. This is simply a test that is highly optimized for Intel's architectures, which is a big reason Intel prefers it. Tbh I'm surprised you didn't post another Skyrim result as well.

Second; the 4960K is 50% faster in Monte Carlo Sim, not 100%. That translates to 6 seconds.

Right now an 8350 on NewEgg costs ~$180. The 4960K MSRP is $990, that's

a difference of

$800. Which equates to

500%

.....

for what - 6 secs and a handful of fps?

Now I'm no mathematician but even I can see those numbers don't add up.